I ran along the North Terrace. I expected to see Lucy in the street, but there was no sign of her. At the edge of the West Cliff above the sea I looked across the harbour to the East Cliff. I thought I might see Lucy in our favorite seat, and I was not sure whether it would be a good or bad thing to see her there. There was a bright full moon, with heavy black clouds, which created an always-changing scene of light and shadow as the clouds passed quickly across the moon. For a moment or two I could see nothing, because the shadow of a cloud hid St. Mary's Church and everything around it.

Then as the cloud passed, the ruins of the abbey came into view. The a narrow band of light with edges as sharp as a sword-cut, moved along, and I could see the church and churchyard in the moonlight. Whatever I hoped or feared, I was not disappointed. There, on our favorite seat, the silver light of the moon showed a half-reclining figure in a snowy white nightdress. Then the shadow of the cloud quickly hid everything again. I had not been able to see much, but it seemed as though something dark stood behind the seat, bending over Lucy's white figure. What it was, whether man or beast, I could not tell.